What If I Said?
by etmuse
Summary: So many couples could be great together if only someone would say something. Well, what if they did? Multi-show crossover - CSI/CSI NY/Bones/Roswell/Torchwood/Private Practice


Rating: PG-13 for language

Pairings (Shows): Mac/Stella (CSI NY), Tosh/Owen (Torchwood), Kyle/Isabel (Roswell), Bones/Booth (Bones), Warrick/Catherine (CSI), Cooper/Violet (Private Practice), Greg/Nick (CSI)

Summary: So many couples out there could be great together, if only someone would say something. Well, what if they did? Lyrics are from 'What If I Said' by Steve Wariner.

* * *

_We've been friends for a long, long time  
You tell me your secrets and I tell you mine_

"I almost lost him," Mac sighed. "Ten minutes more and the whole situation could have been different."

"But it wasn't," Stella pointed out comfortingly. "He's going to be fine."

Mac smiled wryly. "I didn't think I'd get to caring about the boy so much," he mused.

"He's a physical link to Claire, that's pretty big," Stella said, handing him a takeout carton. Mac nodded thoughtfully.

"Sometimes I look at him and there's something that reminds me so much of her." A momentary expression of pain and grief flashed across his face. "I wish she had lived to meet him, get to know him."

"She'd have been proud of him today," Stella interjected softly. "He helped capture a serial killer."

"Hiding those clues in the blog posts, that was smart," Mac agreed. "Risky, but smart. He's done a few pretty stupid things in the months since I've known him, but he really came through today." Sobering again, Mac dropped his gaze to the coffee table, one of the few items of furniture so far in Stella's new apartment. "Nearly got himself killed in the process though." Raising his eyes to Stella's, he continued in a pained tone. "He's sort of become family. If I'd lost him today, I'd have lost the closest thing to a real family that I've had in years."

Shifting closer, Stella spoke earnestly. "You'll always have family Mac. Me, the rest of the team, we're you're family. I'm your family." Moving closer still. "I'll always be there for you Mac, whatever you need."

Something unexpected flashed in their locked gazes as they pulled back from a tight hug…

_She's left you all alone and  
You feel like no one cares__  
But I've never failed you  
I've always been there_

"Owen, open up! I have pizza. And beer!" Tosh rapped on the door again. "I know you're in there! The life-signs monitor gives you away!"

A rumpled and unshaven Owen eventually answered the door.

"What do you want?"

"I heard about Diane," Tosh replied gently. "I wanted to make sure you were OK." Owen scoffed, but nevertheless stepped aside to let her in.

"Yeah, well, you needn't have bothered. I'm fine."

Tosh raised her eyebrows at him as they settled on his couch with the pizza. "You don't look fine."

"Well, I am, OK? And I'm going to stay that way. No more 'relationships'. No more getting close. No more. Not ever."

Tosh sighed. "Owen, you can't live your life like that."

Owen laughed bitterly. "Why not? It's all pointless anyway. Everyone I've ever loved, anyone who has ever supposedly loved me, has left me."

Setting the pizza box on the floor, Tosh looked straight into Owen's eyes and spoke very deliberately.

"I'm not going anywhere."

A minute later, her implication set in…

_You tell your story  
It sounds a bit like mine  
It's the same old situation  
It happens every time_

Isabel opened her motel room door at Kyle's knock.

"Great, it's you," she deadpanned. Kyle took no offense at her tone and pushed past her into the room.

"Looks like it's just the pair of us tonight," he told her. "The rest of them buggered off somewhere."

Isabel sighed. "Story of my life."

Closing the door behind him, she dropped onto the battered couch along one wall. "Sooner or later, everyone buggers off one way or another." Kyle threw himself down beside her, nodding sadly.

"Yeah, I guess you're right. Either they leave, or we have to."

Isabel turned to face him. "When I was a kid, being an alien was just this secret I had. Sure, I had nightmares about being found out, but most of the time it didn't really affect me that much. But now," she exhaled. "Now it has totally and completely screwed up my life." She shrugged ironically. "Yours too."

"Screwed up our lives?" Kyle responded. "Of course not. OK, so we rarely have much money and we're on the run from the Feds, but it hasn't… okay, so it has totally fucked up our lives."

"And let's not forget the past. Look at how it has screwed us over before. And forget about our love lives. Max, Michael, Maria and Liz have come out OK, they have each other, but look what it's done to us? We haven't exactly had the best of luck, look at our track record. Grant – killed by an alien, Alex – killed by an alien, Tess – brainwashed for years to the point where she killed Alex then ended up sacrificing herself, Jesse… need I go on?" Isabel let out a frustrated cry. "It just isn't fair." Kyle could only nod in sad agreement. Tears of self pity welled up in Isabel's eyes.

"I mean, who's ever going to love me now with a record like that? I'm an alien, I'm on the run from the FBI, I…"

Interrupting her, Kyle framed her face in his hands and released the sentiments he'd been keeping inside for months.

"Maybe someone else who's on the run. Maybe someone who's already been through the alien shit and yet keeps coming back for more."

Isabel searched his gaze, suddenly allowing herself to see Kyle in a very different light…

_Can't we see  
Oh, maybe you and me  
Is what's meant to be  
But do we disagree?_

"Booth, what are you doing here? Do we have a case?"

Now that he was actually standing on Brennan's doorstep, Booth was nervous.

"No. No case. I, um." Struggling to find the words he had rehearsed, he dug into his pockets, finding only a half-empty packet of gum and a few coins. Pulling out the gum, he fidgeted with it as he stumbled over his words. "I, er, just wanted to." The blank expectant look on Temperance's face unnerved him. "Um, gum?" he offered, blindly holding out the packet. Bones shook her head.

"No thanks." She looked puzzled. "Is that really what you came over for? To offer me gum?" Taking a deep breath, Booth composed himself.

"No, it wasn't. Can I come in?" Bones moved aside and gestured him in.

"Of course." Booth could read her confusing as they faced each other in her living room.

"The thing is," he began, "that kiss last week."

Brennan invited him to continue. "Yes?"

"I, um, I haven't been able to get it out of my head. I mean, it pretty much floored me, and I don't know about you but I really didn't expect that."

Bones remained silent, but looked thoughtful. Taking that as an encouraging sign, he offered his reasoning.

"The way I see it, it was either just some random fluke, something just in the moment, or it was some kind of sign." Moving closer still, he stared down into her eyes. "I don't think we have enough data to decide which it is though."

Caught up in the spell of the moment, Bones smiled into his eyes.

"Enough data? Careful there, you're starting to sound like a scientist."

Booth smiled back. "I guess I can live with that."

"So what would you suggest?" she whispered.

"We need more data."

_What if I told you, what if I said, that I love you?  
How would you feel? What would you think?  
What would we do?  
Do we dare to cross that line  
Between your heart and mine  
Or would I lose a friend  
Or find a love that would never end  
What if I said?_

_She doesn't love you  
Oh, it's plain to see  
I can read between the lines  
Of what you're telling me_

Opening his third beer, Warrick continued his story.

"Then she's got the nerve to blame the breakdown of our marriage on my job. Like me doing a bit of overtime is an excuse for her to start screwing her ex."

His divorce at last finalized, he had taken Cath up on her offer of a celebratory sorrows-drowning session at her place. So far, Cath had provided a sympathetic ear and a plentiful supply of beer.

"Hell, Eddie didn't even bother coming up with an excuse," Cath rejoined. "Not even a pathetic one" Warrick swallowed another gulp of beer, contemplating their shared experience of infidelity in marriage.

"This sure isn't how I imagined my life going," he sighed. "I never planned on getting' a divorce." He let out a self-depreciating chuckle. "Guess I should have married someone else if I wanted to stick to that one." Cath related in silence, not quite having the nerve to suggest herself, even in jest.

"Someone who didn't believe a demanding job was a valid excuse for infidelity would definitely have been a start," Warrick continued.

"Maybe someone who understood the pressures of the job," Catherine offered in a burst of boldness. "Someone who understood the hours and the stress."

Glancing over at Cath, Warrick felt a stirring of long-buried longings and emotions…

_And he doesn't hold you  
The way a woman should be held  
How long can I go on  
Keeping these feelings to myself?_

Cooper pushed open the door, a half-gallon of chocolate ice-cream under his arm. Detouring to the kitchen, he grabbed a couple of spoons before joining Violet where she was sniffling on the couch.

"What happened this time," he asked gently, breaking open the ice cream and handing her a spoon. Between the sniffles and the bites of ice cream, he couldn't really make out her response, but it didn't really matter. He knew the score – he'd heard it all before. She'd seen Allan and Cami together somewhere, no doubt doing something she and Allan had done, and gotten upset. Again.

"Why am I so unlovable?" Violet sniveled.

"You're not unlovable," Cooper soothed, meaning every word.

"Allan obviously thinks so."

"Yeah, well, Allan is an idiot. If he couldn't love you the way you deserve to be loved, then it's his problem, not yours."

Swallowing another mouthful of ice cream, Violet turned her teary eyes on him.

"You're just saying that because you're my friend and you're trying to cheer me up."

Locking gazes with her, Cooper spoke straight from the heart.

"No, I'm saying it because it's true. Because if it had been me, I would never have let you go, would have loved you forever. I'm saying it because it's how I truly feel."

Surprise replaced the tears in Violet's eyes as she absorbed his words.

"Really?"

_What if I told you, what if I said, that I love you?  
How would you feel? What would you think?  
What would we do?  
Do we dare to cross that line  
Between your heart and mine?  
Or would I lose a friend  
Or find a love that would never end  
What if I said?_

_Oh, we've both had our share of loneliness  
So who's to say that we can't have a little happiness?  
And if I found that in you  
It would make my dreams come true  
Or would you walk away  
Hear what I have to say_

Greg guessed who his latest visitor would be when he heard his front door open. As his parents had gone home the day after he was released from the hospital, and getting up to answer the door was still a bit of a challenge, he had given his friends at work his spare key, so they could just let themselves in. As a head poked around his partially-open door, he noted that he had guessed correctly. Unsurprisingly really, given that Nick's visits had outnumbered those of the rest of the team put together. Secretly, Greg hoped that his twice daily visits were a sign that he too was feeling more than friendship, but he had yet to muster the courage to say anything.

"Hey," Nick grinned as he entered the living room. "I brought Chinese. And I put a few groceries in the kitchen for you too." Greg grinned back from his relaxed position on the couch.

"Thanks, Nick, you didn't have to do that."

"It's no problem, Greggo, I wanted to," Nick replied, taking a seat on the couch as Greg carefully shifted to make room.

"I know, and really, thanks," Greg said gratefully. "You've done so much for me this past week; bringing takeout, renting DVDs, hanging out with me… I don't even know how to repay…"

"Stop," Nick interrupted. "You have nothing to repay. You're my friend, my best friend, and well, I remember being home after the kidnapping. I felt so lonely, so alone. I couldn't bear for you to have to go through that." Hearing the conviction in Nick's words, and seeing the emotion in his eyes, Greg found the nerve to say what he had wanted to say for days. For months, really, if he was being truthful with himself.

"Thanks," he whispered, "that really means a lot. You, I mean, I." His stomach churning, he searched for the right words. "There's something I've wanted to say to you, and I totally understand if you don't want to hear it, and you can get up and leave right now if you want. I mean, it would hurt, but I would totally understand. It's just, it's been hard not to hope, but I know I might be way off base here, and…"

The more words that came tumbling from Greg's mouth, the more Nick's suspicions were confirmed. He'd said he would understand if Nick left, and part of him wanted to do just that; to get up and walk away, escape the situation and go on with his life as before. But the other part, the part that had been hidden and repressed since adolescence, was screaming at him to stay, to see where this could lead. After more than a decade of stifling the urge, Nick could no longer hold back. Reaching out, he gently gripped Greg's shoulders.

"Greg," he murmured, bringing the younger man's torrent of words to a halt. "I want to hear it."

_What if I told you, what if I said, that I love you?  
How would you feel? What would you think?  
What would we do?  
Do we dare to cross that line  
Between your heart and mine_

Their lips slowly merged in a tentative kiss. Emotions flared and sensations skyrocketed through both their bodies at the contact. After a few moments, they pulled back, breathless from the unexpected feelings. After breathing in each other's faces for a few moments as they read the emotions shining in the other's eyes, their mouths crashed together for a deeper, more passionate lip lock.

Only one thought filtered through the torrent of rapture flooding their brains.

"We should have done this years ago."

_I've always wondered  
From the day that we met  
What if I said?_


End file.
